Mix flour, ginger, baking soda, cloves, allspice and nutmeg in a bowl. In a large bowl beat together the molasses, shortening and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine rum, sea salt and hot water. Add the dry ingredients and the water/rum/sea salt alternatively to the sugar/molasses/ shortening mixture. Roll out the dough between two sheets of waxed paper until ¼ inch thick. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two baking sheets. Cut the dough into 2 ½ or 3 inch round cookies. (Old timers claim that originally Froggers were the size of a luncheon plate!) Place the rounds on the greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Check on them after about 9 minutes. They’re done when they are a little bit dark around the edges and firm in the middle. Cool on cookie sheets for five minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Makes about two dozen Froggers. (A 14 ½ ounce vegetable can with both ends cut out makes a nice 2 ½ inch cookie cutter and results in a 3 ½ inch cookie.)

In Salem, Massachusetts, there are secrets everywhere—even in the furniture…

When Lee Barrett spots the same style oak bureau she once had as a child on the WICH-TV show Shopping Salem, she rushes to the antiques shop and buys the piece. Just like the beloved bureau she lost in a fire, this one has secret compartments. It also comes with an intriguing history–it was purchased in an estate sale from a home where a famous local murder took place.

The day after the bureau is delivered, Lee returns to the antiques shop and finds the owner dead. The police suspect the shop owner’s unscrupulous business partner, but Lee wonders if the murder is connected to her new furniture. At least part of the answer may be revealed through a mirror in the bureau, tarnished and blackened, allowing Lee to tap into her psychic visions. Using this bureau of investigation, Lee may be able to furnish her policeman beau with the evidence needed to catch the killer—before the next one to be shut up is her…

“A definite winner…delightfully spooky…an entertaining story that keeps readers guessing until the very twisted and eerie end.” —RT Book Reviews

Carol J. Perry was born in Salem on Halloween Eve. She has written many young adult novels, and Caught Dead-Handed is her debut mystery. She and her husband Dan live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida with two cats and a Black Lab.